'Bombogenesis' Scary, But It Beats Politics

Can we take a little break from the relentless, pounding headache that is state politics and speak instead of snow? I have several agenda items:

No. 1. Should snowstorms have names? The notion that last Tuesday night's storm was named Chester rests exclusively with WFSB, which began the practice of naming winter storms in 1971, when the station itself had a different name, WTIC. This year, they are naming storms after Connecticut towns that could also be someone's first name. They go in alphabetical order, so the storms have been Ashford, Bethany, Chester. I assume Darien is next.

(I hope they leave room for my proposal, Connecticut towns that either are or could be Shakespeare characters: "Now, Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition. Of Pomfret's and Saybrook's powers heard thee not? For wrathful Griswold doth ride against Haddam ere the life be usurp'd from Essex and Kent." )

Confusingly, The Weather Channel also names winter storms. WFSB's Chester is their Janus. They go in for cool names, like Khan and Q and Xenia.

Compounding the confusion, the National Weather Service objects to naming winter storms and instructs its employees not to call one "Gandolf," even if the Weather Channel does (even though tropical cyclone storms' names are accepted and promulgated by the National Hurricane Center, part of the same agency). Other meteorologists have complained that naming winter storms sows confusion, is unscientific and may compromise public safety. How would that be? "Oh! When you said the nor'easter was dangerous, I didn't realize you were talking about Loki. "

Naming storms is popular in Europe, and there's one university in Berlin with an "adopt a vortex" program in which you can pay to have a pressure system named after you.

No. 2. Should scientific weather terms sound so scary? One term making the rounds of late is "bombogenesis," which either refers to the rapid strengthening of a winter storm or to a cyclone with cold air at its center, depending on whom you ask. It just sounds so much worse than "snowstorm" that I question whether it should be used in front of children. I felt the same about "polar vortex," much in vogue earlier this year.

Please note that Sharknado, although also in vogue, is not a term with wide scientific acceptance. So far.

No. 3. My own research. During Chester-Janus, I became idly curious about whether there is any Rorschach-like correlation among one's favorite meteorologist, peanut butter brand and Beatle, so I asked people to name all three, using the miracle of social media. I received well over 300 responses, even after throwing out all the people who didn't follow the instructions correctly. I heard from concert promoter Jim Koplik, acclaimed chef Bun Lai, jazz pianist Noah Baerman and one meteorologist (Ryan Hanrahan, who picked himself, Skippy and John).

I chose these three questions because they seemed like matters about which almost everybody has a strong opinion.

I learned that:

People who insist they do not rely on TV meteorologists are also very likely to name something other than a conventional peanut butter brand and to say "George."

The fact that you like Jif, Bob Maxon, Teddie (peanut butter), Joe Furey or Bruce DePrest is no guarantee that you can spell them. In fact, digital communication seems to have destroyed spelling in general. Jif has been the best-selling peanut butter in the U.S. for decades, but it was more commonly identified by my respondents as "Jiff," with a smattering of "Jiffy" and "Jig."

There's a slight correlation between liking WFSB's Scott Haney and liking Paul, possibly because they are both in some sense "cute," although only one of them recently, in an uncute moment, ate cat vomit off the floor on live TV after mistaking it for Grape-Nuts.

The poet Villon famously asked "Ou sont les neiges d'antan?" or "Where are the snows of yesteryear?" People do in fact pine for the snow-casters of yesteryear. Many respondents named the late Dr. Mel Goldstein and the long-gone Hilton Kaderli. A significant number then went on to pick organic peanut butter and/or Ringo.

Mostly, I learned I am not the only person happy to discuss almost anything right now except state politics.

Colin McEnroe appears from 1 to 2 p.m. weekdays on WNPR-FM (90.5) and blogs at http://courantblogs.com/colin-mcenroe/. He can be reached at Colin@wnpr.org.